Franklin Drive-Thru Safari

On Labor Day we decided to explore the Franklin Drive-Thru Safari, which is about 40 minutes from our home. You pay a per person entrance fee and you can walk around and see lots of animals in pens, and also drive your car through the area where all sorts of animals are roaming free.

We opted to pay extra for a guided tour to take us around the drive through area. Totally worth it, since we could do more off-road exploring and we learned about the animals as we went along. Also, we would have missed our very favorite animal otherwise - a tiny, tiny newborn striped-tail lemur clinging to its mother's belly. You can't even imagine how adorable that little guy was.

We were riding in an open jeep, so we really got up close and personal with all the animals (a little too personal for my liking in the case of this guy, who left drool on my purse - ewwwww).

This picture should give you an idea of what it's like as you drive down the road.
You can buy a big bucket of feed for $5 and the animals know you've got the goods,
so they come right up to all the cars that come by.

Clearly I didn't listen to our tour guide as well as I should have because I can't remember if that animal is a buffalo or a bison, but he was big. Like, really big.

This fenced area houses bunches of goats and some baby animals (camels, for instance).

McKell was pretty fond of poking her finger into the side of this little snake she found.

We had a great time! We promise to take you if you want to come visit us. :)

Back to School

Ashlyn - 2nd Grade

Miss Heller

This is Miss Heller's 2nd year teaching. She did 5th grade at Bowen last year, but told me at Meet the Teacher night that teaching 2nd grade is her ideal. 

  

Kaylee - 4th Grade

Mrs. Pope (math, science)/Mr. Taylor (language arts, social studies)

Mrs. Pope is Kaylee's homeroom teacher, and she's also our neighbor! She lives 2 houses down from us. She has been at Bowen for many years, but in positions other than a regular teacher. She has taught in a normal classroom before, but it was a long time ago. She has the coolest looking room I've ever seen! Kaylee spends her mornings in homeroom, and then switches to Mr. Taylor's classroom across the hall for the afternoon. (and I think she looks too old in the pic on the R)

  

Brenna - PreK (final year!)

Miss Rogers

Miss Rogers was Brenna's teacher last year as well, so we already know and love her and are confident that she'll take good care of our sweet girl. Brenna has been a BIG helper in her classroom this year, since she's already familiar with the rules and the routine of school, etc. She definitely has preschool senior-itis though - can't wait for Kindergarten next year. :)

  

We stopped for ice cream at Dairy Queen after we did all the "Meet the Teacher" stuff the evening of Aug. 21st (which was McKell's actual birthday).

McKell's Birthday

Miss McKell turned TWO on August 21st.

The older girls had "Meet the Teacher" that evening though, so we pushed off the birthday celebrations until the following day.

She found birthday decorations and balloons when she woke up
and got to go out for breakfast donuts with Daddy.

She got lots of fun presents - animal puzzles, clothes (not too exciting for her, but I sure like them!), a doggy purse (combining 2 of her favorite things), and a vacuum.

It took me a while to decide what sort of cake to make, 

but I finally settled on an M&M theme. "M" for McKell, and the girl loves her treats.

By the way, a large bag of M&Ms does NOT have equal amounts of each color.

Blues win by a landslide!

 

She started picking off M&Ms as soon as we put the cake in front of her.

We adore this spirited little gal. She keeps us laughing (and running). :)

Summer Vacation - Utah

Warning: this post contains a mountain of pictures 

(and it seriously doesn't even cover all the great stuff we did 

while in Utah with my fam)

Grandma was granted her fondest birthday wish -
to have ALL her family gathered together

Girl outing to see a children's production of "Cinderella" at Hale Center Theater

My sister Linda's wedding was the driving force behind our trip.
Off to the temple!

Adam (my brother) and his son, Rafe. Handsome as can be.

Waiting for the Bride & Groom

The happy couple - Linda & Jared!

Another happy couple - Nate (my bro) and Kristine

Sisters

Wedding luncheon at . . . um . . . some nice restaurant I can't remember the name of.

 Wedding Reception

Lovely location - the kids ran around together all night long and had a ball

New children's museum at Thanksgiving Point
(too crowded for me, but the kiddos had fun)

Picnic at the park with the extended Walton family

On the way up to Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon

Playing at the Falls - the kids hiked up really far

Family Night at Nate & Kristine's house

Got to visit with dear friends (and their chickens) from Delaware
who have recently moved to Utah

Ashlyn did preschool with these kids when they were all 3 years old

Open House for the Ogden Temple

Swimming at the Provo Rec Center -
seriously a good thing that we had a 6 to 10 adult to child ratio
(thanks for coming, Linda & Jared!)

Opening the Wedding Gifts (can't you just feel Jared's excitement?!)

Adam's kids were so exhausted they both fell asleep
during a 3 minute drive from Grandma's house to the park

Bocce Ball

Grillin' and Chillin'

Following around a random man with a metal detector
was the cousin's favorite activity at the park

Newly Remodeled Bean Museum at BYU
(not pictured here, but they Boyd K. Packer room is really cool,
if you get a chance to visit)

Still to come, pictures from our awesome "Despicable Me" movie party. :)
We LOVE vacation!!!